


only eternity before us

by karasunotsubasa



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Baking, Barebacking, Cameras, Christmas, Christmas Decorations, Christmas Tree, Coach Victor Nikiforov, Come Eating, Crossdressing, Ficlet Collection, First Kiss, Fluff, Glasses, Happy Birthday Victor Nikiforov, Hide and Seek, Interviews, Kissing, Love Confessions, M/M, Magical Realism, Massage, Nervous Katsuki Yuuri, Nervous Victor Nikiforov, Romantic Soulmates, Short & Sweet, Sick Fic, Sick Victor Nikiforov, Silly, Smut, Surprises, Zettai Ryouiki, bonding time with yurio, nose bleed, proud victor, softness and warmth, soulmate kiss, thigh fucking, victor is not shy with his love in front of cameras, victor's casual touches, yurio's a good friend, yuuri meets the russian fam for the first time, yuuri nurses him back to health
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:11:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 17,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26440162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/karasunotsubasa/pseuds/karasunotsubasa
Summary: this is a collection of unrelated ficlets, which have been last year's rewards for my patrons
Relationships: Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov
Comments: 51
Kudos: 214





	1. russian fam greeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri finally meets the Russians he'll be sharing the rink with in St. Petersburg. They aren't as bad as they might seem.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> written for [Mitisvenatrix](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mitisvenatrix/pseuds/mitisvenatrix) in 2019/08

"You're here," Yurio says the moment the door opens. "Good. Get in. Everyone is already waiting."

"Everyone?"

Yuuri pauses in unwrapping his scarf from around his neck – Victor's scarf, actually, that he grabbed on his way out in a hurry. It smells of him so distinctly that when Yuuri stops moving, the scent wraps around him like a hug. It does little to distract or comfort him, though. The dread seeps into him faster then the winter chill.

"Who's everyone? Wasn't this just supposed to be a dinner with Yakov and Lilia?"

He turns to Victor, searching for help, but Victor only shrugs. He's smiling, as he does. And smiling in a way that tells Yuuri he knows, but he isn't going to share. Yuuri is sure that if he pressed him, Victor would spill all of his sweet, sweet secrets like he always does whenever Yuuri has the confidence to try it. He can't deny Yuuri anything and Yuuri uses it to his advantage sometimes, but right now Yurio's foot is tapping on the wooden floorboards and the sense of urgency it breeds into Yuuri makes him shrug off his jacket and stuff his scarf in the arm of it almost on autopilot. He doesn't even think of pressing Victor into answering.

"Yurio, who's everyone?" Yuuri asks again when the teen begins to lead them down the hall without answering his previous questions.

"You'll see," Yurio answers, which does little to calm Yuuri's rising panic. "You're already late anyway. I swear, Victor, you're awful at this. Every single time–"

"It's not my fault this time," Victor defends himself. He slips his hand into Yuuri's as they walk and when Yuuri glances at him, he smiles in a way that he knows Yuuri finds soothing. His thumb rubs warmth into Yuuri's chilled skin and it helps to push back his nerves, if only a bit. "Makkachin didn't want to let us leave. She's growing spoiled in her age. My heart breaks whenever we have to leave her alone, but you know how Lilia is about dogs. I couldn't bring her along."

Yurio snorts. "That's why I have a cat. At least Lilia and I have good taste."

"Arguable," Yuuri adds. His mind goes to the exhibition skate after Yurio's win in the GPF and he has to bite his cheek not to grin. Somehow, this pointless conversation has managed to settle his nerves into something calmer.

Yurio throws him a glare. "Yeah, right, because your taste is so much better, Katsudon. You're marrying him," he points his chin at Victor, who grins brightly at Yuuri when he looks to his fiancé, "you're just as bad. If not worse, and I'd say _definitely_ worse."

But Victor and Yuuri are in a world of their own now: just smiles, smitten gazes, love in their breaths. Yurio makes a disgusted sound in the background, but nothing could ruin the truth of this moment. And the truth is – they are getting married. To each other. _Incredible._

"Oh, come on," Yurio finally gripes, done with their lovestruck staring.

He opens the double winged door they arrived at. It leads into a dark abyss of a room, but the moment Yuuri steps through the threshold, pulled in by Victor's hand, lights turn on and he flinches in surprise when loud mouths scream "SURPRISE!"

Only Victor's hand keeps him from bolting like a spooked cat.

"Oh my god, now you idiots did it. You scared the shit out of him," Yurio scowls.

"Language, Yurasha."

Lilia's voice drifts in from somewhere, but among all the faces smiling at him, Yuuri can't even see her. She is not someone who lacks presence, and that only proves more how caught off guard Yuuri is.

He blinks. His first reaction was fear, it was all so sudden. However, the longer the voices carry on without him, the more grounded he becomes. Victor stays at his side as if he know Yuuri needs to adjust before they can truly step into the room.

"So sorry about that," he says while Yuuri tries to even out his breathing. "I thought it would be a good idea to throw you a surprise party. If you want to leave though, no one will blame you. I should've asked before—"

Yuuri shakes his head before he even opens his eyes to look at him. "No, no, please. It's lovely. I'm sorry I reacted like that, I was just unprepared."

The softness in Victor's eyes will be, one day, Yuuri's utter undoing. He's sure of it as he looks into Victor's face, smitten and warm and now calmer than he thought possible just seconds ago. He gives him a smile, one that Victor returns with a quirk of his own lips that is just as precious.

God, Yuuri loves him so much.

"Better now?" Victor asks.

Yuuri nods. "Better."

"Come on then, I'll introduce you to everyone."

People don't rush them in the way they did with the surprise and, if they try, Yurio is there to kick their shins none-too-gently. It brings another smile to Yuuri's lips. He's truly lucky, he knows. He meets them all one by one, grateful for the friends he already has.

There is Georgi, who shakes Yuuri's hand with all seriousness and begins to tell him to keep a close eye on Victor, because Anya – his ex-girlfriend, Yuuri deduces from the context – did something that Victor interrupts by taking Georgi by the elbow and leading him to the table, where he pours him a drink. There is Mila, who hugs Yuuri and startles him, but her energy and the sparkle in her blue eyes reminds him so much of Phichit that he only laughs and hugs her back. There is Piotr, who is big and warm enough that Yuuri isn't entirely too mad when he claps Yuuri on the shoulder hard enough that he stumbles. There is also Gala, a girl as timid and shy as Yuuri remembers himself being all those many years ago, and they only trade little nods, respectful of each other's boundaries.

There is also Yakov, sat at the head of the table already with a drink in his hand, which he lifts in a silent greeting before taking a big drink, his face stone-hard through it all. And there is Lilia, who pointedly ignores them all as she flips through a magazine on the couch that stands before the fireplace. In her lap, Yuuri spots the cat that so prominently features on Yurio's Instagram. She peers up from her reading as if she senses him looking and Yuuri offers her a little bow, just like he would to his old sensei. She nods back, acknowledging him, but she turns away soon after.

It's a group Yuuri couldn't have imagined if he tried. Odd, all kinds of strange, peculiar and now… his. This, these people, they will be his family now. Through good days, the bad days, and all those in between. Yuuri looks at them all as the bottle of vodka flies from hand to hand, where it fills glasses full till spilling. Soon, these same glasses rise in a toast:

"To Yuuri," Victor says, smiling at him with so much pride and love that Yuuri's heart does a very enthusiastic backflip. "May his stay here with us be a warm one, despite our cold Russian winters."

"To Yuuri," everyone repeats.

"To skating to our best potential and making our coaches happy," Yuuri counters and drinks among the cheerful laughter of the others.

The vodka goes down his throat, burning, but when it settles in his chest, in his belly, it's only half as warm as the feeling in his heart – that of home and belonging, here, among these people, at Victor's side.

His hand finds Victor's, their lips meet briefly, still bitter with vodka yet sweet with adoration, and Yuuri knows that no matter the decisions he made in the past, this one was the right decision to make. Right for him from the very moment Victor showed up on his doorstep on that snowy April day. And now, now Yuuri was here to make good on the promise they made to each other when their hearts have finally begun to beat as one: to love and support each other, and to live life to the fullest.


	2. glasses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri forgets his glasses in the changing room after a phenomenal performance and Victor is only too happy to put them on his lovely face in front of all the cameras.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> written for [Mitisvenatrix](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mitisvenatrix/pseuds/mitisvenatrix) in 2019/07

Pride, it's pure pride that thrums in Victor's veins as he looks at his fiancé.

Flushed, sweaty, and golden, Yuuri is the most incredible man Victor has ever met. Most beautiful and most inspiring, too. And, on one hand, Victor can't wait for all this madness to be over – the congratulations and press and interviews, and even more congratulations at the banquet – just because he wants to kiss Yuuri silly and tell him of all the ways he adores him as they celebrate this well-deserved victory together. But, on the other hand, Victor also wants this moment to last forever, so that everyone can see who Yuuri truly is: a fighter, a winner, and someone of unmeasured potential. So that he is appreciated, him and his talent and skill, just like he deserves.

Pride, Victor thinks, is too small a word to describe the torrent of warmth and exaltation that tears through his heart whenever he looks at Yuuri. They walk side by side, wearing matching gold on their hands and matching ribbons on their necks, trading matching grins as their eyes meet.

The only difference is that Yuuri's chest is adorned with gold, while Victor's gleams silver, but that? That is all the more reason why this is all so _perfect_.

"Ah," Yuuri suddenly stops midstep, "I forgot my glasses."

They're almost all the way out to where the media is camped by the exit from the competitor's area. The cameras have already noticed them. Through the glass wall that separates them, they click and flash, almost blinding. So as not to take the spotlight away from the gold that hangs around Yuuri's neck, from his win, his triumph, Victor quickly kisses his temple.

"I'll get them for you and you go get _them_ ," he points towards the glass, grinning at Yuuri's grimace.

He kisses Yuuri on the lips with a cheery laugh when Yuuri's lips quirk into a smile under his. And then he's gone before Yuuri can say even a word of protest.

Victor's own medal thumps on his chest as he skips back to the changing room. Yuuri's glasses sit on the bench where they were both changing out of their skates, trading grins like schoolboys in love. Unable to hold back a grin now either, Victor snatches up the glasses and heads back to his wonderful, gold-crowned fiancé.

Yuuri took his words to heart. He's out there, where the burn of the camera lenses is the worst, and he's doing just fine. For a moment Victor stops to watch Yuuri answer the questions that once made him stutter. He still isn't fully comfortable with the media, Victor doubts he'll ever be, but he's come so far already.

Once again pride burns in Victor's heart. He can't stand being away from Yuuri for a second longer. He quietly makes his way towards him, careful not to draw too much attention.

This is Yuuri's moment, after all.

Yuuri doesn't notice when Victor comes up behind him, but the camera sure does. Victor offers a smile and a wink to the audience that will inevitably watch this, or maybe is already watching it live. Even better!

"Can you tell us a little bit more about your plans for the off-season?" the reporter asks, eyeing Victor as if she wants to jump to questioning him before this interview is over.

"Mostly resting," Yuuri answers with a wistful sigh. "I will probably go back to Japan for a while. I miss my mom's cooking. She makes the best ka—"

Victor gently touches his palm to Yuuri's back to make sure he doesn't startle. He shouldn't have worried, though. Yuuri doesn't bat an eye, he's so used to Victor's casual touches. It makes Victor's smile that much more honest.

"I have your glasses," Victor says when Yuuri stops half a word in. "Here."

He unfolds the glasses and slides them onto Yuuri's face. He could simply stand back after that and watch Yuuri, a winner in all that he is, continue to talk to the reporter, but how can he when he wants to scream his pride out into the world? Instead of doing that, which would no doubt embarrass Yuuri far more, Victor cups Yuuri's face in his hands and kisses him in front of the cameras and all.

He hears their frantic clicking, but he takes his time. Slowly, sweetly, he kisses Yuuri's lips. And then he pecks him once more, just because he can.

Yuuri's cheeks are delightfully flushed when he pulls back. Victor smiles as he rubs his thumbs over them.

"You're doing great, sweetheart," he praises, and oh! Yuuri's eyelashes flutter, his breath cuts short, and he blushes harder – a sequence too cute for words. Victor's heart flutters about his chest.

"Thanks," Yuuri whispers, and then turns back to the reporter. He clears his throat. "Like I was saying, I miss my mom's cooking. It will be nice to go back home for a while."

The reporter can't resist asking: "Will you be coming along, Mr. Nikiforov?"

"I most definitely will." Victor grins. "No one cooks like Yuuri's mom. Oh, I think I'm getting hungry just at the memory of the smell of katsudon!"

The reporter laughs politely.

"So, since you're here, Mr. Nikiforov, and we're still talking about skating, as his coach, would you care to share what you think about Mr. Katsuki's performance tonight?"

Victor wraps an arm around Yuuri and grins with all the pride that has been simmering under his skin ever since their final scores were announced.

"As his coach, I believe this is the culmination of Yuuri's hard work and determination, and a great showcase of his talent. He deserved it 100%. As his fiancé, though…"

Victor turns to Yuuri, who openly eyes him with so much softness and love that Victor wants to swoop him into his arms and kiss him then and there. Kiss him senseless. He holds back, but when he addresses the rest of the question, he looks only at Yuuri.

"As his fiancé, I could not be more proud. You won, Yuuri," he says. " _You won_. God, I love you so much."

Yuuri's blush returns, or maybe it never left. Victor has no time to wonder.

"I love you, too," Yuuri tells him, voice a bit lower in the hopes that the microphone doesn't pick them up, but it does. Of course it does.

Wired with happiness, Victor turns his smiling eyes to the camera.

"You asked Yuuri before, but you know what _I_ can't wait for in the off-season?"

He takes Yuuri's hand, the one with the golden ring that matches his own, and lifts it to his lips just right – so their rings can both glare into the camera, as obvious as their love.

"I can't wait to marry the love of my life," Victor finishes. "Now, if you'll excuse us, we have some celebrating to get to."

And, with a wink thrown over his shoulder, he pulls Yuuri away from the reporter and out: out into their newly crowned, golden life, which he knows will be just as full of life and love as it has been until now. Because every day with Yuuri is that.

He trades a grin with his stunning, talented, wonderful fiancé.

It's that, that _and more_.


	3. happiest memory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They say that a soulmate's kiss will show you their happiest memory. They say you will know the moment your lips touch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> written for Jennifer Mitchell in 2019/09

Yuuri is nervous.

Well, truth be told, he's perpetually nervous where Victor is concerned. This kind of nervousness is a little bit different from the gut-wrenching anxiety and fear of failure that he experienced when Victor first began to coach him. This kind of nervousness, after all, has nothing to do with skating and everything to do with Victor – and not in a coach capacity.

This kind of nervousness is a good kind, Yuuri thinks. It's the kind that makes his heart beat faster, his hands sweat and his breath falter. But it's good. It's better than good. It's new. And… as much as it terrifies him, it also makes him a little bit excited, too.

Yuuri shifts, nervous and hopeful both. Victor's arm is a source of warmth that Yuuri feels sink into him from where Victor is pressed into him. Victor's hair tingles Yuuri's chin in a way that could be annoying, but isn't. Despite how hard Yuuri's heart flutters, he would never want Victor to move away. Instead… instead he waits. He hopes. He thinks himself silly to hope, because surely he's wrong and Victor thinks of him as just his student and _nothing more_. 

They have a blanket slung over their feet. In Victor's lap there's Yuuri's laptop, from which come soft sounds of Yuuri's skates, muffled enough that they don't disturb Makkachin who is napping at the foot of the bed. 

But over the skates, so loud it's a miracle that Victor doesn't hear it, Yuuri's heart hammers away, because Victor's hair smells of coconut conditioner and he's close, so close that Yuuri feels his every breath. And it's a lot. It's a lot, but it's also not enough, and he wants– he wants–

"Here," Victor tells him suddenly. "Did you see that?"

Yuuri blinks, breath stuck in his throat. He clears it, but when he speaks his voice still comes as a rasp: "Ah... no, sorry, I missed it. Play it again?"

So Victor pulls himself up and away from Yuuri to rewind the recording. Yuuri almost reaches out to stop him, but instead he rests his hand in his lap, pretending to hike up the blanket that falls some when Victor moves.

"There," Victor says again, pointing at the screen, but Yuuri is a fool and he can look at nothing else but Victor's face, lit up by the glare of the laptop screen and haloed by the night stand lamp. "When you land your quad flip, your blade goes…"

He pauses the moment he turns to Yuuri. And… _Oh_ , Yuuri thinks. _Oh no._

They must be so clear on him, his deepest desires. Victor seems frozen for a few seconds too long, as if unsure what he's looking at, and Yuuri wants to kick himself. With his heart in his throat, he turns his face to the screen and pretends: pretends he can't see Victor, pretends nothing happened, pretends that maybe if he ignores it all of this awkwardness and silly, silly hope will go away.

They don't. That would be too much luck, and apparently Yuuri has spent all of his on the day Victor arrived in Hasetsu to coach him.

"Yuuri?"

He looks back at Victor, biting his lip so that he doesn't say something equally as incriminating as the lovestruck look on his face Victor has just seen. 

"What's up?" Victor asks gently. "You know you can tell me anything."

Yuuri wants to laugh at the irony. He almost does. Only the nerves keep him from giving in to that mirthless amusement. He runs a hand through his still damp from the shower hair. 

"What do you mean? I'm fine."

"Are you really? Look, I–" 

Victor moves the laptop off his lap and sets it on the edge of the bed before he turns to Yuuri fully. His knee knocks into Yuuri's and it's a grounding touch that Yuuri often needs. Victor's attention is welcome, but at this moment Yuuri wants to crawl away from it. Victor doesn't let him. One of his hands takes Yuuri's and all Yuuri can do is allow that, because he knows that he would not be able to leave even if he tried. 

"If you want to talk about something, I'm all ears," Victor says, but Yuuri shakes his head.

"It's nothing, I promise. You... ah, well, it doesn't really matter. Forget about it, please."

"It matters to me."

Their eyes meet. Every time, it's always a shock for Yuuri to look into Victor's eyes. They're so _blue_. So beautiful. Posters never do them justice. Like this, from so close he can count the eyelashes that are as silver as Victor's hair, Yuuri can't find words to speak, too enchanted to even think them.

So he doesn't. And he stares. And Victor… Victor stares back. 

Suddenly, Victor frees one hand from the tangle in Yuuri's lap and lifts it up to tuck a strand of hair behind Yuuri's ear. The gesture, the softness of his expression… they both sink right into the depths of Yuuri's heart, which trembles and flutters and cries for attention. Yuuri denies it as he holds his breath.

Surely it's only just Victor being friendly or–

"It should be illegal to be this handsome, you know," Victor tells him playfully.

Yuuri's mind is a void, empty of all thought and awareness. "You're one to talk."

Victor's smile is so– Yuuri has no words for it. It's just so soft, so tender, so– _Victor_ , that Yuuri can't help but feel like his entire heart is going to burst just from seeing it once.

"Yuuri, I," Victor starts, then pauses as if unsure of what he is trying to ask.

"Yes?"

Victor gives a little breathless laugh. "No, I was just wondering… But it's silly. You won't want that. I don't know why I thought it was a good idea. Forget it."

He's ready to let go of Yuuri's hand, to pick up the laptop and move on as if it's nothing, but to Yuuri… to Yuuri it's everything. So Yuuri holds onto Victor's hand, shifts closer still, and asks:

"No, please. Tell me."

And something in his face must already be an answer, because Victor takes only one glance before–

"Can I kiss you?" he whispers.

As if Yuuri's entire world was shaking– No, not his world– It's _him_ who's shaking, and he's shaking because... _what did Victor just say?_

"What?" he rasps.

"I–" Victor swallows. 

And it's then that Yuuri realizes that he wasn't the only one battling nerves. That Victor, too, is nervous, that he gets nervous talking to _Yuuri_. That it's _Yuuri_ that makes him pause and stutter and blush, and that's just _impossible_ , but also maybe the best feeling in the world, and Yuuri almost misses Victor's next words, but he doesn't, because he's already staring at Victor's lips like he's been starving to do for weeks.

"I'm sorry," Victor follows quickly. "I knew this was a bad idea and that you don't want to–"

"No, I," Yuuri interrupts him before he even thinks about what to say, "I don't don't want to."

"You don't...?" Victor slowly asks, as if struggling to understand. Then his face lights up with hope so bright that Yuuri feels it draw out the hope in his own heart as well. "So you–"

"Yes," Yuuri quickly says. So quickly he almost bites his tongue. 

Victor's eyes brighten up with something that makes Yuuri once again feel the sharp stab of nerves in his belly, but he ignores it. He ignores it, because– 

"Can I–?"

"Yes," Yuuri repeats, trembling with the effort of it.

"And you really want to…?"

Now, Yuuri has never been a patient man, so when Victor still hesitates after all of this, after he's made Yuuri vibrate with anxiety, Yuuri has had enough.

"Just shut up and kiss me, Victor," he snaps. 

And then, then it's happening. As if magic has slowed down the time, Victor leans closer and brings his hand to hold Yuuri's face. Yuuri feels the throbbing – his pulse or Victor's, he isn't sure – against his cheek, but it's of little importance then. Victor's breath rests on his lips and Yuuri wets them with his tongue, nervous and wanting, and–

Victor's lips meet his and the entire world bursts into brilliance. 

They say that a soulmate's kiss will show you their happiest memory. They say you will know the moment your lips touch.

Yuuri knows. And, as Victor moans against Yuuri's mouth, Yuuri knows that he knows, too.

But what catches him off guard is something else: the vision. Or, really, the lack thereof. Because no matter how close he pulls Victor's head, there is nothing he sees except here and now – just him and Victor, kissing like schoolboys who never learned any better.

"Vicchan," Victor whispers the moment they part. His voice is thick, and Yuuri thinks it's with lust, but the moment he peers up he spots the unshed tears clinging to Victor's pale eyelashes.

"You saw him?" Yuuri asks, surprised.

Victor nods. "You were holding him. I think it might have been the day you got him. Both of you were so small, so cute."

Victor's hand never left Yuuri's cheek, so he now caresses it with his thumb. His smile is tender, but also full of sadness that tears at Yuuri's heart all over again. He swallows thickly.

"He was always small," he says.

Victor says nothing at all, just opens his arms and pulls Yuuri into a hug. Makkachin snorts through her sleep. 

"I didn't see anything," Yuuri says after a while, somewhat afraid to speak up. 

"Nothing?" 

"Just… us. Here. Now. But that can't be it, can it?"

Before he can begin to worry that maybe this meant they weren't–

"That's simple," Victor says and Yuuri hears him smile. "You saw this, because this is my happiest memory. You and me, finally together. _Soulmates_ , Yuuri! Isn't that amazing? And Makka, too, as always."

Yuuri's heart clenches inside his chest. What Victor said… it breathes loneliness. To think that this is his happiest memory, when there should be lots of them far more special than this… 

"We need to change that," Yuuri decides. And before Victor can protest, he continues: "You deserve more than this, Victor."

"But you're all I want," Victor says, smiling into Yuuri's hair. 

"But that's not all you will get," Yuuri firmly replies and pulls Victor closer. He hugs him, close and tight, and holds, holds him until Victor's heart begins to beat directly in line with Yuuri's. "You deserve more, Victor, so much more. And I… I want to give it to you. Will you… Can I?"

And when Victor hugs him back, just as desperate, just as resolved, Yuuri doesn't need to hear him agree. He knows. But, still, Victor whispers the warm "Please," against his neck and all Yuuri can do is vow to make him the happiest man on earth. He has to, if only to give Victor back for all the happiness he's brought to Yuuri's life. But more than he has to, Yuuri simply wants to. 

Because he loves him. And it's as simple as that. 


	4. nsfw / zettai ryouiki

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victor and Yuuri find some spicy fanfiction of the two of them and... well. Things happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> written for [Mitisvenatrix](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mitisvenatrix/pseuds/mitisvenatrix) in 2019/10
> 
> WARNING: nsfw

_…Slowly, Victor skims his fingers over the stocking that climbs up Yuuri's thigh. He pauses when the material ends, rubbing lightly against the line where stocking meets the skin. He never lifts his eyes, and Yuuri is glad for it. His blush must already be redder than red, judging from the heat he feels in his cheeks. It also spills to his chest, and then lower still, down to his—_

"This is embarrassing," Yuuri complains, having stopped reading to hide his face in Victor's shoulder.

Victor giggles. "Oh, come on, it isn't that bad. But I admit, it's a little weird to see how people imagine us in private."

"You keep on reading it then." Yuuri passes the phone to Victor. "I think I've had enough second-hand embarrassment for now."

With a smile and a hum, Victor picks up where Yuuri left off.

_–down to his cock, which throbs with need when Victor's fingers tease the bare skin on his thigh. The flimsy skirt hikes up as Yuuri unconsciously shifts closer. He wants… no. He_ needs _to be touched. He needs Victor's hand under the skirt, holding and stroking him till Yuuri is shaking with pleasure._

_He never imagined that zettai ryouiki could be something so erotic. He never even considered it at all before Victor mentioned it in passing. Leave it to his coach to teach him all about eros, on and off the ice._

"What's eros got to do with anything here?" Yuuri grumbles into Victor's sleeve. 

"No idea," Victor replies. "And I still don't really understand what zettai ryoki is."

"It's _ryouiki_ ," Yuuri corrects his pronunciation. "And it's… well, it's like when you put on high stockings and a skirt or shorts, and the little bare skin that is left uncovered between them is the, what's the translation? Absolute territory? It sounds so weird in English."

"Oh!" Victor exclaims, suddenly enlightened. "Alright, okay, I get it now. And it's considered erotic in Japan, yes? The territory?"

"Not really?" Yuuri makes a humming sound. "I mean, anything can be erotic if you want to see it that way. I'm sure there are people who are obsessed with this kind of thing, too. Japan is rather inventive when sexual things, you'll come to notice."

Victor looks down at him, his eyes as bright as his smile. "Care to indoctrinate me?"

But Yuuri only blushes and doesn't reply, so Victor, still grinning, turns again to the phone.

_"Touch me, Vitya," Yuuri begs, breathless with need._

_He spreads his legs and the skirt moves with them. More bare skin shows as if to tempt Victor into giving Yuuri what he so desperately wants._

_Yuuri is lucky that Victor is as weak for him as he is for Victor, because he doesn't need to beg harder. Victor's hand slips under the skirt. He slides it up the inside of Yuuri's thigh, then turns it and—_

_Oh._

_Yuuri sucks in a sharp breath when Victor cups his cock at last. The palm rubs against him, making him moan out loud._

_And Victor moans with him._

_"Yuuri," he groans, "you should've told me you're wearing no underwear."_

_"I could've," Yuuri answers, gently moving his hips to rub against Victor's hand, too. "But isn't this so much better?"_

_It will be even more so, when Victor finally slips his fingers deeper between his legs and finds the already slickened with lube, stretched out hole, ready to be filled by his thick, hard co—_

Yuuri groans pitifully and covers his face with his arms. Victor tears his eyes away from the text to gaze down at him: at his flushed face, flushed neck, his parted, wet lips.

"Is it getting to you?" he asks with a slow smile.

"This was a very bad idea," Yuuri only mumbles. Victor chuckles. "Don't laugh! It's awful."

Victor coos. "Anything I can help you with, darling?"

Yuuri only pinches his side and Victor yelps, then laughs.

And then, he returns to reading.

_Just as if their thoughts have merged into one, Victor pushes Yuuri against the wall. He smacks a hand right next to Yuuri's head to support himself, seemingly unaware of what he's done._

_Kabedon._

_Yuuri shudders, and then shudders even harder still, because Victor's other hand slips between his legs, quick like a snake. Victor knows what he wants. He knows what Yuuri needs._

_And he gives it to him with no hesitations._

_Two fingers push inside Yuuri's slick hole before he can recover from the kabedon, and Yuuri's heart trembles, flutters, hammers inside his chest even as he moans his appreciation and sheer need for more._

_"V-Vitya," he stutters out on a pleased breath._

_Victor's hand moves, his fingers stretching Yuuri open just like he himself has done before to prepare for Victor's cock._

_"Gods, Yuuri, you will be the death of me," Victor says._

_And for the first time since he began touching him, Victor captures Yuuri's lips in a kiss._

"About damn time," Victor comments.

Yuuri only grunts.

"The kabedon thing, though," Victor adds. "What's that all about? Is it another of those Japanese sexual oddities?"

"I think it's just a romance thing," Yuuri replies. He turns to the side, a smile on his face. "Haven't you heard? It's romantic to push someone against the wall and slap your hand almost on their face."

Victor snorts. "Peak romance, no kidding."

"What, you don't believe me?" Yuuri teases. Then, suddenly, he sits up. "Come on."

He tugs Victor up with him, and the moment they both find their footing, he twirls Victor around and pushes him against the wall, which he slaps hard with his hand the moment Victor's back thuds against it. A loud "don" sound echoes around them. Like this, Yuuri is close, and Victor's heart speeds up something awful from the surprise of it all and the playful lightness of Yuuri's gaze on him.

There might actually be some romance in the kabedon, he's ready to admit.

But then—

"Keep it down, Yuuri! Don't disturb the guests!" comes Mari's voice from above them, and they both startle out of the moment to keel over with laughter.

"Sorry, Mari!" Yuuri shouts back, fighting off a grin.

"Romance is dead," Victor sniffles, wiping away the tears that came to his eyes.

"Maybe not entirely."

Yuuri takes Victor's hand, the one with the engagement ring on it. He brings it to his lips and kisses the ring, and as if conditioned to do so, Victor feels himself melt into warmth and bliss.

"Maybe not entirely," he agrees.

They clamber into bed again and, this time without the silly fanfiction, cuddle close. Like that, they fall asleep, and come morning all thoughts of _zettai ryouiki_ and _kabedon_ fly out of Victor's head, replaced by love and Yuuri's sweet, darling smiles.

***

It's only a week later that Victor remembers the silly idea of a skirt and thigh highs, and it shocks him to the core. In fact, he doesn't remember it by himself. Oh no. He receives help. And not just any random kind of help. It's as if he's thrust into remembering like many adults teach kids to swim: he's thrown into deep water, headfirst.

Because on that day – in the evening, to be exact – Yuuri himself, dressed in a dark mini skirt and a pair of thigh high black stockings, greets him when Victor returns from his soak in the onsen.

Victor should've suspected something was up when Yuuri excused himself early from the bath and insisted Victor stays longer. But, well, Victor never suspects his lovely Yuuri of sneaky things like this. Maybe he should learn to, but then again it would cost him the surprise he feels now, and...

It is no secret that Victor loves surprises.

And it is no surprise that Yuuri loves to surprise him, either.

So, Victor walks into his room – their room, as of this summer – and firmly closes the door to make sure no one will interrupt them. If the fanfiction they read before taught him anything, it's that whatever follows next, he does not want it to stop.

"What's this?" he innocently asks.

"Don't tell me you forgot already," Yuuri replies, crossing his legs at the ankles. His feet are bare, except for the stockings. Victor almost kneels before him then and there, as if on instinct.

"I'm a lucky man to have you remind me of the things I forget," he says instead, keeping his distance. His eyes travel across Yuuri's legs, climb up his calves, thighs, then his stomach and chest to finally rest on his face. With pushed back hair and glasses, Yuuri looks mouth-wateringly glorious. "A lucky man, indeed…"

Yuuri's lips quirk.

"Am I to understand that you're going to remind me of what was in that fanfic, too?" Victor asks, feeling himself grow hot at the very thought.

"Oh, I thought we could, well… write our own."

Yuuri uncrosses his legs and lifts one to prop his heel on the edge of the bed as he leans back onto his elbows. The position, with legs spread and skirt lifted, gives Victor a perfect view of Yuuri's cock and—

Victor sucks in a sharp breath.

" _Fuck…_ "

"That is the intention," Yuuri chimes in, so cheeky that Victor doesn't even know what to do about it.

He doesn't need to know. _Yuuri does._

"Are you going to make me wait like this, Vitya?" Yuuri asks, feigning coyness. "I've been waiting for so long already… Don't you want to touch me?"

Victor doesn't know when he crosses the room. He just knows that he's on the bed, between Yuuri's legs, pushing them up and then, then he's sliding into Yuuri's warm heat and they move as if they are running out of time.

They fuck hard and fast, both out of breath and needy. Yuuri's come stains the skirt, which twists around his narrow hips from back to front. It's only once Victor fills Yuuri up with his come that they take notice. And they take notice, because just one round is not enough.

It's _never_ enough.

So Victor slides to the floor and pulls Yuuri to the edge of the bed again, where he smooths down his skirt. And then he sets his mouth to work: licking and biting and marking Yuuri's thighs, right above the stockings. _Zettai ryouiki_ is not _zettai_ to him. Or maybe it is, maybe it is _zettai only_ to him.

He stops when Yuuri's cock grows hard enough again to tent the skirt.

"Turn around," Victor orders and Yuuri obeys, twisting under the hands Victor refuses to lift from him. His skirt rides up his back, now barely covering his perfect, round butt. "Fuck, Yuuri, you're gorgeous."

Yuuri only moans in appreciation. Then he also moans in pleasure when Victor slides his hands under the skirt and squeezes his cheeks, one in each hand.

"Stunning," Victor adds, kneading the perfect ass before him. "And always surprising me. You're a marvel, my love."

Without waiting for Yuuri's reply, he spreads the firm mounds and licks into Yuuri's cum-filled hole with all the passion Yuuri always instills in him.

Yuuri comes again: on Victor's tongue and fingers alone, rubbing his cock against the inside of the skirt. He's flushed all over. His face, neck, cock, ass, even his thighs – all of him bears the colour of Victor's love, and Victor bathes in the ecstasy as he fucks Yuuri's thighs to reach his own release for the second time.

They lay gasping for breath long after. Yuuri doesn't move to take off either the skirt or the stockings, so Victor slides his fingers under the edge of one and rolls it down Yuuri's leg. He takes off the other as well, kissing both of Yuuri's knees as he goes and both of his feet, too. Yuuri unzips the skirt and allows Victor to slide it off his hips as well. They're all sullied with come, wet in places, sticky and dry in others.

"Just leave them and come back," Yuuri mumbles, patting the bed next to him in clear invitation. Victor does as directed. "Did you enjoy the surprise?"

"Wasn't that clear when I came inside you and then all over your thighs?" Victor asks back and Yuuri snorts. He turns around to snuggle into Victor, who wraps an arm around him the moment he settles in. "But yes, I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it a lot. Thank you, Yuuri."

"Mm, you're welcome." Yuuri kisses Victor's collarbone.

For a second they remain silent, both lost in the pleasure that still churns somewhere deep in their bodies.

And then—

"Now we only have the kabedon to cross off the list," Yuuri says.

"Wait." Victor blinks. "Kabedon?"

Yuuri hums. He lifts his head up to innocently smile at Victor. "What, you mean you don't want me to fuck you against a wall?"

Victor's face must be answer enough, because Yuuri's smile turns into a sharp, lovely smirk that sends a thrill of excitement down Victor's spine.

"That's what I thought," Yuuri chirps.

And then he lies his head down again, leaving Victor's pulse to race and skip and hammer hard enough to make Yuuri smile as he pushes the jinbei to the side and rests a kiss against Victor's excitable, loving heart.

 _Thank God for fanfiction_ , Victor thinks when he pulls Yuuri up into a sweet goodnight kiss. _And thank God for Yuuri._ His stunning, surprising, sweet fiancé.

As Victor falls asleep, he knows he is truly the luckiest man alive. In fiction and real life, both.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank god for fanfiction, indeed 👀👀


	5. casual touches

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victor's casual touches seem innocent at first, but in reality they chip away Yuuri's hesitations until he can't hold back anymore and confesses his true feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> written for [Mitisvenatrix](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mitisvenatrix/pseuds/mitisvenatrix) in 2019/12

It starts innocently at first.

Yuuri knew from the start that Victor is a very touchy person. From the moment he took Yuuri's hand, from the moment he grabbed Yuuri's chin, from the moment he entered Yuuri's life – Yuuri knew.

And yet, it still comes as a surprise to him every time that Victor touches him. They're small things, usually. A hand on his shoulder, a little slide of his hands as he fixes Yuuri's form, fingers tapping lightly on Yuuri's hip, warm palms pushing his back as he stretches...

At first, even those small things made Yuuri tense up. They made him jump and raise his guard, so unused is he to being touched by someone other than his family. But little by little, the more time they spend together, Yuuri began to accept Victor as well. His touch, from strange and alien, has turned into warm and familiar, and even–

"Lie down," Victor tells him one day after Yuuri suffers an awful fall during his quad practice and twists his back so hard on landing that he feels it every step of the way back to the inn. "You need a thorough massage, and then an ice pack."

"You don't have to–" Yuuri starts, but Victor cuts him off.

"I'm your coach. For one, I _do_ have to. For another, I _want_ to. So," he smiles a smile that hides his eyes and seems far colder than his other ones. Yuuri feels cold sweat run down his back, "lie down, Yuuri. And let your coach do his part."

What choice does Yuuri have, then? None. None at all.

Victor's hands are gentle, yet firm. They always are, Yuuri realizes. His touch never seems hesitant. How can he be so sure of himself, Yuuri wonders. How does he do it? Yuuri doesn't know, but as those sure, gentle hands begin to rub his back where it aches the most, he has to bite his lip to keep in a moan.

"Try to relax," Victor tells him. "If you release the tension in your body, it'll be easier to work out the hurt from your muscles."

"Easier said than done," Yuuri mumbles into a pillow.

He takes a few deep breaths, trying to follow Victor's orders, but it's impossible. Not with Victor's hands touching him, sliding over his skin. So warm, so gentle, so–

"You know what they say can best relax a person?" Victor asks in a conversational voice. Yuuri hums to cover up a groan. "An orgasm always–"

"Victor!"

Yuuri's almost halfway up in embarrassment, when Victor's hand pushes him back down onto the bed. Yuuri goes down with a whoomp of the air that leaves his open mouth. He twists around to glare at his coach, but the shameless grin on Victor's face is as handsome as any other grin. Yuuri can never win against that, can he?

Victor's thumbs dig into Yuuri's flesh again, and this time he's taken by surprise, so he lets out the involuntary moan out loud. Victor's grin only widens.

"I could help you relax further, if you want," he offers, and Yuuri turns away, his face burning.

"No, thank you."

"Pity. I would have enjoyed that, too."

Victor's hands return to kneading Yuuri's back, but Yuuri can't focus on it anymore. Victor's words echo in his mind, and even long after they part for the night, he can't forget them.

It's just like Victor to say things like that. It's nothing new. Ever since he arrived in Hasetsu, he's been saying things like that to Yuuri whenever an opportunity arose. Yuuri has always chalked this up to simply being a part of Victor's character. Just like Chris, he must enjoy saying things that embarrass him. Or so Yuuri believes.

But, despite his belief, he can't help that secret part of him from hoping that he means it.

That day feels like the beginning. It's that day that something in Yuuri's heart changes. From then on, whenever Victor touches him, Yuuri feels his touch that much more keenly. Intimately. As if, as if…

When Victor's hands smoothe out the back of Yuuri's t-shirt, running over his shoulders – Yuuri shivers. When Victor takes Yuuri's hips on the ice, his large hands fitting on them so perfectly – Yuuri's heart flutters. When Victor massages Yuuri's calves and feet after a hard workout, because he insists to do so, and the warmth of his touch lingers for long hours after – Yuuri can't help but imagine what it would be like to allow his touch to bring him the pleasure Yuuri knows it would.

But he shouldn't. He stops himself every time his thoughts get away from him. Victor is his coach. He's Yuuri's mentor. It's only that and Victor's flirting, and it's his nature, so Yuuri shouldn't put too much stock in it. It would be inconvenient for both of them if Yuuri developed feelings for him, right? Victor would have to leave then. He'd have to stop being Yuuri's coach. And where else would Yuuri find someone willing, when the season will be starting in barely a month?

So he makes the only choice he can: he pushes those feelings as deep inside his heart as they can go. It doesn't help. Every time Victor's hands rest on him, they resurface, as if called forth by the magic of his touch.

It's hopeless.

Yuuri is hopeless.

And then one day, one day he isn't.

Victor is helping him stretch, pushing on Yuuri's legs one by one. Yuuri is on his back on the gym floor and Victor is almost laying on top of him. It's impossible not to think of what Yuuri has been trying not to think with Victor so close, with his hands on his thighs and under his knees, with his breath almost touching Yuuri's lips and his silver hair falling into his eyes as he looks down at Yuuri–

"I think I'm in love with you," Yuuri says, surprising Victor and himself at the same time.

Victor's hands slip.

Yuuri barely registers what happens after, it's over within a second.

Victor's hand hits him right in the crotch and in an involuntary reaction, Yuuri's knee jerks and, right as Victor falls forward since his balance is lost, Yuuri knees him in the face. They both slump away from each other, groaning in pain.

Yuuri's eyes fill with tears, both from pain and humiliation. He never imagined confessing his feelings to Victor, but if he had a choice, it would not be like this: with bruised balls and Victor's nose bleeding.

What a mess he's made…

And then Victor starts to laugh. That, if possible, hurts even more than Yuuri's crotch and his pride combined.

"I'm sorry," Victor mumbles at last, wiping away his tears with blood-stained fingers. His nose is dribbling blood, and somehow, looking at him, Yuuri forgets about his own hurt for a moment. "I shouldn't have laughed. But you have to admit that this entire situation is hilarious."

"Is it broken?" Yuuri chooses to ask instead of answering Victor.

Victor shakes his head, then presses his hand to his nose, when it drips even more blood.

"I don't think so," he says from behind his hand. "Are you okay? I can't believe the first time I touched your–"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence or I will break your nose this time," Yuuri threatens, filled with confidence that came so out of nowhere that he too is surprised by it.

Victor snorts as if he's forgotten about his nose, and moans when blood spurts from between his fingers.

"Come on, we have to get you cleaned up," Yuuri says, crawling to his feet. He still feels the pang in his crotch, but he ignores it in order to give Victor a hand. "Yuuko will kill us both if we get blood on the floor."

They crowd into the small bathroom. While Victor washes his face in the sink, Yuuri brings him a clean towel and an ice pack from his bag. A few minutes later, they sit on a bench in the gym again: Victor with the ice pack wrapped in a towel pressed against his nose, Yuuri right beside him, wriggling his hands.

What was he even thinking, saying all that? It was stupid, so thoughtless. It's good that Victor didn't think much of it or else–

"So," Victor starts, his eyes meeting Yuuri's over the towel, "care to repeat what you said before? I'd like to answer properly this time. Preferably in a way that doesn't get you punched in the dick and me kneed in the face."

Yuuri's face heats up. "Forget it. It's not–"

"No," Victor interrupts him. "I will not forget it. Say it again, Yuuri."

And when Yuuri only presses his lips together, sure that Victor only wants him to repeat this so he can let him down easily and clear the air as they continue their relationship as student and coach, Victor adds a soft little "Please," that completely undoes Yuuri's anger.

"I said I think I'm in love with you," Yuuri says stiffly.

He expects the laughter again, expects Victor to sigh and tell him how impossible it is for them to be together. He doesn't expect Victor's slightly wet, cold hand to find his. He does not expect to meet Victor's eyes and find open, unreserved adoration looking back at him. He does not expect Victor to open his mouth and say what Yuuri has been hoping against all hope to hear.

"I can't tell you how long I've been waiting to hear that," Victor tells him. "I think I'm in love with you, too, Yuuri."

"You… what?"

Yuuri blinks at him, certain that he must have heard wrong. Victor, who seemed to think the same, drops the ice pack from his face. His nose is still a bit red and swollen. The towel left little imprints on his skin, and a patch of pink spreads around the affected area. He's beautiful, Victor is, and now he looks so perfectly imperfect that Yuuri is momentarily distracted from everything but his face.

"I love you," Victor repeats himself, this time clearly enough that Yuuri can't have heard anything else. His voice is nasal, but the words are clear.

That doesn't mean they get to him. "I don't understand."

It's Victor's turn to blink in surprise.

"You don't understand?" he asks. "What is there to understand? I love you. And you, you said–"

"I know what I said," Yuuri says, frowning. "But I don't understand how you can possibly love me. Me. I'm no one. I'm nothing special. How can you–"

"Do you trust me, Yuuri?" Victor interrupts him.

"Of course I do. What has that got to do with–"

"Then trust me to know my own feelings," Victor tells him, a little harsher than before.

"But–" Yuuri shakes his head. "I– _Why?_ "

"Why what? Why I love you?" Once Yuuri nods, Victor answers with a smile. "So many reasons. For one, I love your spirit. I love the way you dance. I love your smiles, when you allow yourself to be carefree and honest. I love how hard you work to get what you want. I love how fierce, how ready to accept a challenge you are."

Victor smiles a soft, fond smile, one that makes his face as tender as Yuuri has ever seen it. It's impossible that this smile… that it's for him. No, Yuuri can't believe that.

"I love the small things about you, too," Victor tells him as if he knows what Yuuri is thinking. "I love how you tie your skates. I love how you look at Makkachin. I love how you breathe next to me. I love how you always clean up your plate of all the food. I love how your eyes shine when you see katsudon. I love how gentle you are to everyone."

"I could go on for hours," he finally says, smiling. "Would you like me to continue?"

Victor's hand comes to rest on Yuuri's knee, warm and grounding. Everything he has said… How can Yuuri believe this? It seems too good to be true.

"You aren't pulling my leg, are you?"

"I would never. Not about this."

Slowly, Yuuri lifts his eyes to Victor again. "You really mean it? You–"

"I love you," Victor tells him out right, open and honest. "Yes."

It feels like Yuuri's heart bursts inside his chest all of a sudden. It feels like all the blood rises to his face. It feels like the entire world has come to a stop, as if the light got sharper, the smells stronger, the life larger and better and–

"Really?"

Yuuri's voice comes out hushed.

"Really."

Victor looks at him, and Yuuri looks at Victor, and for a moment there neither of them seems to breathe.

"Can I..." Victor asks, and Yuuri doesn't know what he wants to ask, but he knows what he wants to say, so he says it before Victor even has a chance to finish his question: "Yes."

It's a cold kiss that tastes of blood and ice, and it should be awful on all accounts, but when Victor's lips slide against Yuuri's – tender and loving, and soft, so soft that Yuuri's breath leaves him wanting more – Yuuri cannot imagine anything more perfect than this. And suddenly he knows, too, that all those touches, all the times Victor rested his hands on him, they are proof of what his heart still struggles to believe: that Victor loves him as much as Yuuri loves him.

And isn't that the most ridiculous thing of all?

When Victor kisses him again, deeper, hungrier, Yuuri doesn't think that at all. Instead, he feels the only thing he can – how right it is to finally give into his own feelings, and pull Victor as close as he can.

He has what seems like an eternity of touches to give back to him, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> they are both such silly geese, right? 😭❤️😭🙏❤️😭🙏❤️❤️


	6. cold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victor gets a cold and Yuuri takes extra good care of him, even if he can't be by his side the entire time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> written for Jennifer Mitchell in 2019/12

Cold.

He's cold when they come home from practice, he's cold when they finally sit down to eat, and cold even when Yuuri slings a blanket over him as Victor shivers on the couch while Yuuri leaves to take Makkachin out for her last walk of the day. He's cold when he steps into the shower, and cold when he steps out, because the floor tiles are chilly and shivers have already began to wreck his body again. He's cold when he slips into bed, and he's still cold when half an hour later Yuuri crawls under the covers to smile at him right before his face pinches with a worried frown.

"You don't look too good," he says worriedly.

Victor laughs, a weak little sound. "Thank you. Just what I needed to hear. You always know how to make me feel better, my love."

Yuuri pinches his nose for this cheek, but then drops a kiss on it. He slides closer to Victor under the covers and leans their foreheads together, a gesture so sweet and so unbearably them that Victor gives a tiny hum of content before another series of shivers overtakes him.

"You're warm. Do you have a fever?"

_No, of course not_ sits on Victor's tongue, but it doesn't leave his mouth. That bone-deep ache in his body, the cold and the heaviness of his limbs… Maybe there is something to it.

"I'll be fine by morning," he decides to say. "Russians don't get colds, we only get chills. And you know what's the best remedy for chills?"

Yuuri smiles when Victor grins at him expectantly. "What?"

"Cuddles!"

With his cold hands, Victor reaches for Yuuri under the covers. His fingers skim the skin on Yuuri's thigh on accident and Yuuri squeaks, wriggling away from him. They both laugh when Victor's hands chase after him. For a minute or two, they struggle playfully against each other, but then fall into the sheets with smiles and happy, panting breaths.

Despite Victor's cold hands, Yuuri snuggles into him. He wraps his arms around Victor as if to keep him warm, and puts Victor's hands between his thighs so he can warm them up with his body heat. He shivers at the cold touch, but when Victor sighs into Yuuri's shoulder as the warmth of his body begins to seep into him, Yuuri only boops Victor's jaw with his nose, purely affectionate.

Victor feels like he's going to melt in all the love that suddenly floods him.

"Did I tell you today that I love you?" Victor murmurs, close enough to Yuuri's hair to be able to smell the shampoo on him. It's soothing and nice, and Victor's eyes grow heavier by the second.

"Three times," Yuuri replies, and he sounds like he's smiling. Victor can't help but smile, too.

"Not enough then," he decides. And so, because he can, and because he wants to, he lifts his head to kiss Yuuri's forehead. "I love you. I love you. I love you."

Yuuri's arms tighten around him. "I love you, too, Vitya."

The name seems to breathe warmth right into Victor's heart. He sighs a happy little sigh. Yuuri's hand comes up to stroke his hair and like that, drawn in by his soft touch, wrapped in his arms, and warm at last, growing warmer still, Victor falls asleep.

He wakes up once during the night. He's sweating, heated under the covers, and he kicks them off to cool down. Before it happens, he falls asleep again, listening to Yuuri's even breathing and thinking of how lucky he is to have him.

The morning, when it arrives, feels like only seconds after. Victor comes to in the warm bed, but when he breathes, when he tries to swallow, there is a wheezing and a scratching in his throat. He cracks his eyes open when something cool touches his face, and he squints into Yuuri's beautiful face, grimacing as he tries to make his throat work.

"Hey," Yuuri says softly, smiling a sweet little smile. "How are you feeling?"

Victor tries to hum when he leans into the hand Yuuri keeps on his cheek, but his hum cracks and he ends up making a weak, broken grunt instead. That should be enough of a reply as to how he's feeling, and Yuuri does indeed understand.

"I should've given you something last night just in case," Yuuri sighs, stroking Victor's cheek. "You're staying in bed today, Vitya." And when Victor opens his mouth to argue, he adds harder: "It's non-negotiable. No practice for you today, or tomorrow. Even if you get better."

"But the Nationals, Yuuri," Victor injects, but Yuuri only shakes his head.

"You'll do brilliantly even if you take a little breather."

Yuuri tucks some hair behind Victor's ear and all fight leaves Victor's lungs at once. He feels too tired to argue. Somehow, the cold has seeped out every ounce of his strength, and all he wants to do is curl up and go back to sleep with Yuuri's hands soothingly running over his heated skin.

"Rest a bit while I call Yakov and then I'll make you some porridge and get you meds."

Yuuri kisses his temple and Victor honestly doesn't know when he has closed his eyes. All he hears is Yuuri's fading footsteps and the patter of Makka's paws on the floorboards, and he thinks that this is what happiness must feel like, and then... he's once again asleep.

He wakes up when Yuuri brings him food and the clatter of the tray that Yuuri sets on the nightstand brings him out of his restless sleep. It's unbearably sweet when Yuuri blows on each spoonful before he brings it to Victor's lips. Every time, Victor can't help but smile. He drinks the meds, gets a cough drop into his mouth and intends to lie back down, but Yuuri orders him to move to the other side of the bed. He fluffs Victor's pillow and remakes the sheets, so that when Victor takes his place again, it's cool and neat and like new.

He sinks into it with a sigh. Yuuri spoils him so much that Victor can't even put into words how lucky he feels to have him by his side.

"Your phone," Yuuri tells him as he rests the phone on the nightstand, well within Victor's reach. "Text me or call if anything happens. Especially if you feel your fever spike. We might have to go see a doctor, if you don't get better soon."

He pats the bed and Makka jumps onto it, sprawling at Victor's side as if she knows he's sick and will be staying home with her. Victor can't help a smile when he dips his fingers into her fur.

"Keep watch over him, Makkachin. Make sure he stays in bed, please." Makka's tail thumps the sheets three times and Yuuri leans down to rest a little smooch on her head. "Good girl."

Then he turns to Victor again. "And you be good, too."

"Do I get a kiss for it as well?"

Yuuri's lips quirk in a helpless smile. He can't say no to that though, and Victor knows it. But Yuuri can be as much of a tease as Victor, and he kisses Victor's forehead instead of his lips. Victor is already pouting by the time Yuuri pulls back.

"You'll get a real one if you're good," Yuuri gives his condition and Victor sighs like a martyr. "I'll be back after practice. Anything I should pay special attention to, coach?"

"Don't try the quads today," Victor says immediately, slipping into the role with ease. "I don't want you to overwork yourself right before your Nationals, or worse, get injured while I'm not there. Focus on polishing up your step sequences and that transition in the second half of your free program. It's still a bit wonky."

Yuuri nods, his face serious as it always is on the ice when Victor gives him feedback. Victor boops him on the nose with his finger, and when Yuuri blinks at him in surprise, Victor smiles.

"You'll do amazing, Yuuri. I know it. You've worked really hard for this, and if you keep this up, you will take gold. I believe in you."

Yuuri heaves a little breath, as if to release the tension from his body, before he returns Victor's smile. "Thank you."

He gives Victor's forehead one more kiss, scratches Makka's head once more, and leaves, waving to them for the final time from the doorway. Not long after they hear his keys in the front door lock. Victor sighs as he slumps against his pillows.

"We're alone again, old friend," he tells Makkachin, who rests her head on the covers, peering at Victor with her black eyes as if she knows how slippery a slope it is for Victor's mood to fall into loneliness after once tasting the brightness of life and love.

But before the weight of his words can really sink in, Victor's phone dings. He grabs it, surprised, and smiles when he sees Yuuri's name. What he's sent him is just a little heart emoji, but that is all Victor needs to forget his bad mood. He answers with a barrage of hearts and kisses and sparkles, and grins when Yuuri quickly replies with full lines of kaomoji.

Σ(°ロ°) (⁄ ⁄>⁄ ▽ ⁄<⁄ ⁄)(≧◡≦) ♡

(*¯ ³¯*)♡(*¯ ³¯*)♡(*¯ ³¯*)♡

( ´ ∀ `)ノ～♡  
  
---  
  
Victor laughs as he sees them all jump at him one by one. With a grin, he sends one more "Ganba, Yuuri! ♡" and he puts down his phone. He can't stop smiling now. His cheeks ache as he stares at the ceiling. He should sleep, he knows, rest while he can so that the sickness leaves as soon as possible, but somehow he can't think of sleeping at all. He ventures out of bed to grab a book, but when he makes it back under the covers, he doesn't feel like reading.

He grabs his phone and opens Instagram instead, scrolling and liking photos of dogs. But even that gets boring after an hour. His eyes begin to itch and water, too, so Victor gives up his phone and curls up in bed to nap. He doesn't think he will be able to sleep – his throat once again begins to hurt every time he swallows – but once he rests his head on the soft pillow that smells faintly of Yuuri, he's gone out like a light.

He naps for a few hours, and it's around 1pm when his phone rings – an alarm that Victor disables with a groan that makes his throat almost rip itself apart. It hurts like hell and he forces himself to swallow a few times to at least be able to breathe.

Only once it passes, does he notice the name of the alarm that Yuuri must have set for him before he left: TAKE YOUR MEDS! I love you ♡

Victor's lips stretch in a smile almost on their own. Yuuri is too sweet, how can Victor not love him more every day? He locks his phone again, ready to leave the bed and take his meds. A ping of a new notification stops him. It seems like Yurio posted a new video on his Instagram. Victor hits play before he thinks about it.

"There he goes," Mila says as she points the camera at where Yurio is picking up speed to make a jump.

But it isn't Yurio that Victor watches. The way Mila keeps the camera angled is pointing directly at the corner of the rink, where Victor sees his Yuuri, dark and beautiful, skating figures into the ice. Victor sighs, focusing on Yuuri so much that he almost misses Yurio's jump. And then he makes a double take.

He replays the video, and sure enough: Yurio lands a perfect quad loop.

Victor sucks in a sharp breath, and then ends up coughing his lungs out for five minutes straight, because his throat begins to scratch. While he's coughing, the video plays again and again, as if to mock him. Oh, the competition he'll be having this year… He would have given everything to have this level of rivalry a few years back, but now? Now it is fun, yes, and he loves it, but it is also a threat.

Victor feels old when he at last slumps against the sheets, all his body aching. He is barely thirty, but with the rapid progress of both Yuuri and Yurio, the competitive skating scene has changed drastically. Where Victor once was an unrivalled king, he now is simply one among many, who continue to strive to prove themselves. This, such level of competition, is what he's been aching to have for so long. Yet now that he does, he feels as if any time he skates could be the last.

He's old… he feels it in his bones. And every time the younger skaters jump, every time Victor sees their knees and ankles take their weight with the springiness of youth, he feels the bitter echo of jealousy in his own joints. Soon, he will not be able to feel even that. Soon, he will have to–

His phone rings.

Shocked out of his thoughts, Victor fumbles with it clumsily, and curses when it slips out of his hands and lands on the floor. Makkachin, who has been dozing off by the bedside, sprints away as if the devil was on her trail.

"Makka, darling!" Victor calls, reaching out to her instead of picking his phone. "I'm so sorry, baby. It's my fault, you did nothing wrong. Come here. Come, come to papa. Yes, you're a good girl. Very, very good girl. My sweet, darling baby girl."

She comes back a little uncertainly, her ears and tail tucked in, but she allows him to take her face in his hands, so that he can rub her cheeks and kiss her head in apology. Meanwhile, his phone stops ringing. Victor doesn't care. Only after Makkachin is sufficiently smooched and loved and apologized to, and comes to lie in bed with him, does Victor pick up his phone. There is one missed call from Yakov there. Victor dials the number, and puts the phone on speaker, so that he has two free hands to further pet Makka.

"Why haven't you picked up?" comes Yakov's gruff greeting.

"I dropped my phone," Victor answers, resting a cheek against Makka's back. The slow rise and fall as she breathes are soothing in a way that they have always been for all the years they've been together. Victor smiles. "Did you need me for something? Yuuri said he'd call you to explain why I'm not–"

"Not that," Yakov interrupts him. "It's good that boy keeps an eye on you." He falls silent for a moment there. And then, awkwardly asks: "How are you?"

Victor can't help but laugh, which brings out another coughing fit. Yakov waits until Victor is done hacking his lungs, and then says: "I think that's reply enough. Stay home and get better. Don't give your Yuuri a hard time. I will see you Monday."

And before Victor can say anything, Yakov ends the call. Victor looks at Makkachin, then smiles. It's just like Yakov to be so rough with his concern. Over the years, he has always been there for Victor, almost as long as Makkachin. He's seen Victor rise and he's seen him fall. He's been there when he triumphed, and when he felt his worst. In all, Yakov is as much a father to Victor as his own would be, should he still care for what Victor does. While Yakov may not approve of many things Victor chooses to do, it warms Victor's heart to know that the most important in his life – _Yuuri_ – Yakov supports as much as Victor wants it.

Smiling to himself, Victor crawls out of bed. He takes his meds again, and inhales the onigiri Yuuri has left for him in the fridge with a little note, saying "Eat me or I will eat you!" in shaky Cyrillic. With a tea sweetened with thrice the amount of honey he'd normally use, Victor gets back into bed. He's full and warm and getting sleepy again, but he opens his book and gets some reading done.

He wakes up from a nap he didn't intend to take when Yuuri's keys jingle in the front door. Makkachin trots out of the room to greet him, and Victor yawns, rubbing at his eyes. He can hear Yuuri coo at Makka and he can't help a smile. It's almost 4pm, so Yuuri must have been to the gym and gone shopping as well.

When he finally steps into the bedroom, his eyes instantly go to Victor.

"How are you feeling?" Yuuri asks, quickly coming to sit at Victor's side. He checks Victor's temperature with the back of his hand, then smiles when it's not much higher than his own. "You look better."

"And I feel a bit better," Victor answers, catching Yuuri's hand and resting a kiss in his palm. "Yakov called and forbade me from coming to practice till Monday."

"Good, you need the rest." Yuuri nods. "Have you eaten anything?"

"Your onigiri. They were really good. And your Russian seems to be improving as well," Victor praises.

Yuuri blushes lightly as he remembers what he has written. Suddenly, Victor is overtaken by intense, soft affection, and he rises from the pillows to wrap his arms around Yuuri in a hug.

"I've missed you," Victor mumbles into his shoulder.

"And I missed you." Yuuri hugs him back. "Practice isn't the same without you there."

"How was it?" Victor asks, not willing to move. Yuuri's presence, just like his scent are soothing away the tension that Victor did not even realize he was holding onto the entire day.

Yuuri shrugs lightly, careful not to dislodge Victor from him. "It was fine. Nothing to boast about."

Victor hums. His voice still breaks, but at least his throat doesn't hurt like it did in the morning. He has no doubt that by nightfall it will once again do that and more, but for now he is happy with what he has.

"Did you see Yurio's loop?" he asks instead of insisting Yuuri tell him all about his practice. There are days, he knows, that no matter what you try, your body and skates just refuse to cooperate.

"I did," Yuuri sounds like he's grinning. "He was so proud. I'm a little jealous of how fast after the last growth spurt he's able to get back the control over his body. I was bumbling about the ice for good three years before I landed a quad."

Victor chuckles. "He's really something, isn't he?"

"He is," Yuuri agrees softly. "Makes you a bit excited for the Worlds this year, doesn't it?"

And, when Victor considers it now, with Yuuri's heart beating so close to his own, he can't deny it.

"First, you need to get better, though," Yuuri says before Victor can speak.

Pulling back to look at him, Victor smiles. "With your expert care, I'm sure I will be back to my usual self in no time at all."

"Oh, you..."

Yuuri drops his eyes, slightly embarrassed. But even then, he does so with a smile, and Victor can't help but grin harder. Yuuri shakes his head when he spots it.

"You're ridiculous," he tells Victor, who only laughs.

He coughs soon after, but he fights against it until he wins, and smiles again to clear Yuuri's worried frown. "Maybe I am. But I love you, so what else can I do?"

Yuuri shakes his head at him, but he answers with: "Maybe that's what we both are, because I love you too. Ridiculous and extra and all sweaty, snotty mess, too."

Gasping, Victor brings a hand to his chest. Yuuri only laughs at his mock offence. Without a word more he pecks Victor on the cheek, and rises to take Makkachin out. And as the door locks behind him and Victor is left completely alone once more, he does not feel lonely, because Yuuri's love stays with him and goes wherever he is.

With a sigh, Victor sinks back into the bed, and smiles. In sickness and in health, they say, but he knows that he and Yuuri will last even beyond that.

At heart, he is finally warm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> because it's a cold season, please take care everyone! ❤️


	7. broken christmas tree

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With two pets around, it's hard to keep from accidents. Thank God for pet-proof Christmas trees.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> written for JenniS in 2019/12

"Only this thing’s left," Yurio says, nodding at the glittery, sparkly star in Victor's hand, "and we're done, yes?"

True enough, only the star is left from the two large boxes of ornaments that Victor has magicked who knows out of where to be put on the tree that he also got before either Yuuri or Yurio could tell him not to bother. Christmas, after all, is neither a Japanese holiday, nor a Russian one. None of them felt obligated to celebrate it, but, since the tree was already taking up a good one third of Victor and Yuuri’s living room, they could just as well indulge.

If it makes Victor happy, and it sure did, Yuuri has no objections to it.

"Do you want to put it up?" Yuuri asks Yurio with a smile.

The teen claimed all of this to be stupid, when Victor called him over, but he arrived promptly at their place with Potya in his arms. Because of the Russian Nationals falling soon after Christmas, he could not go home to his grandpa, and Yuuri would venture a guess that Victor’s motivation for this entire thing was at least partly influenced by it.

Despite Yurio’s rather vocal reluctance to participate, once the ornaments were brought out, he ended up being the bossiest about what should go where and his "Not there, old man! Here!" made Yuuri and Victor trade silly grins as they dressed the tree under Yurio’s command.

Even now, Yurio's green eyes gleam a little at Yuuri’s question. He scowls when he realizes that Yuuri has noticed.

"Fine," he snaps as if it's such a bother to put up the star. And then, seeing Victor's grin and the way he opens his arms as if to lift him to the tree top, he growls out: "Don't you fucking dare. I swear, I’ll knee you in the teeth."

Victor's laugh makes Yuuri grin like a loon. He has to turn away quickly under the pretense of tidying up the ornament boxes, so that Yurio doesn't call him out for laughing at him. Or else, kick him in the shins that are already bruised enough from the quad practice yesterday.

Turned around as he is, he doesn't see it coming.

He hears Victor's sharp gasp and then Yurio's hiss, and so he twists around, but by then it's already happening and Yuuri can do nothing to stop it.

All three of them shout at the same time.

"Potya!"

"Yuri!"

"Makka!"

And thus, their tree falls.

Everything happens so fast that by the time their voices die, it's all done. Potya, chased through the room by Makka, has jumped onto Yurio's back just as he was climbing onto a stool, then flew straight onto the Christmas tree and pushed immediately away, sending it toppling. Makka, hot on his trail, zoomed between the stool legs making Yurio scramble not to fall. She then crashed into the tree, completing the damage. Victor, since he was standing the closest, tried to save it, but he was too slow and...

“We’re not doing this again,” Yurio says from where he’s crouched on the floor after he fell from the stool.

“Are you okay?” Yuuri asks, more worried that he might have sprained anything than about the tree itself. “Does anything hurt? Can you stand?”

He offers Yurio a hand, and the boy grasps it as he pulls himself up to his feet. He tries both ankles, then shakes his head.

“I’m fine, nothing sprained. But what are we going to do about this?”

They all look at the fallen tree.

“It was so pretty, too,” Victor sighs.

“We need to clean up first,” Yuuri decides. “If Makka or Potya get in here again… I don’t want to clean up blood, thank you very much.”

Victor nods. “This carpet was far too expensive for that.”

Yurio rolls his eyes. He leaves to lock Potya and Makka inside the master bedroom, giving Victor and Yuuri the space to assess the damage.

“Let’s get it up first,” Yuuri suggests. “Then we can clean up and see what we can salvage.”

The tree rises in a scattering of broken ornaments. Glitter and pieces of glass fling around them in a sparkly mess. Yuuri sighs as he takes it in. There is nothing left, it seems. And it would be too dangerous to keep this around without cleaning every branch and taking off every ornament. So much work…

“We should just throw it out,” Victor says as he opens the cupboard and brings out a vacuum cleaner. He brings it over and looks critically at the tree. “It’ll be safer and less work for us after this.”

“But you were so excited for a tree,” Yuuri injects. He looks to Victor, somehow filled with sadness.

Victor shrugs, a small smile on his lips. “It was fun to put it up with you, but it wasn’t meant to be, it seems.”

Yuuri can’t accept that. He doesn’t want to accept that. So… he doesn’t.

Victor vacuums up the broken glass, while Yuuri takes off whatever ornaments survived the fall. There isn’t much, but what little there is, he puts back in the boxes. As he’s taking off the lights, he gets an idea. A brilliant idea.

He’s seen them on Phichit’s Instagram, those pet-proof Christmas trees. Wouldn’t that be just perfect for them?

Once everything is off the tree, Yuuri carefully carries it to the balcony. Victor opens the door for him and together, they push it off and down to the ground.

“I’ll clean up here, you go put it by the trash bins,” Yuuri tells Victor, already thinking of what they’ll need to make his idea possible. The moment the door closes behind Victor, Yuuri calls: “Yurio! Yurio, come here, I’ve got an idea.”

Yuuri quickly explains what he wants to do and the more he talks, the more Yurio’s eyes light up with new-found inspiration.

“There’s those, what are they called,” Yurio murmurs, grabbing his phone and searching for something. “Here, look!” He shows Yuuri the screen with a Christmas tree that Yuuri envisioned in his mind. “You mean these, right?”

“Exactly!”

“Okay,” Yurio bites his lip. “We’re gonna need a couple things more then. I’ll run to the store and get everything we’re missing.”

He’s out the door before Yuuri can even shout at him to wear a hat. Somehow, Yurio’s excitement has gotten Yuuri equally as fired up, and when he takes up the vacuuming, he can’t stop grinning. Victor comes back long before Yurio, but with a sweet, giggly kiss against Victor’s surprised lips, Yuuri tells him to wait.

It isn’t long before Yurio comes back, and it isn’t long before he begins to direct Victor and Yuuri again, checking the position of the command hooks they are pinning to the wall with the picture on his phone. It takes them an hour to get everything in place, but once it is done, Yuuri steps back, and says:

“Do the honours, Vitya.”

With a grin, Victor plugs the lights into the outlet, and their Christmas tree – made only of the lights that have been hung on the hooks spread in a shape that mimics a tree – comes to life. A few remaining ornaments have been hung inside it and the star sits at the top, but the main enjoyment comes from the lights. As Yuuri looks at it, somehow he likes this tree even more than the previous one.

“Now this they won’t be able to destroy so easily,” Yurio comments, snapping a picture to show his grandpa later.

“It’s brilliant,” Victor says. He smiles at them both. “How did you think of this?”

“I remembered seeing something like it on Phichit’s Instagram and Yurio found everything we needed for it,” Yuuri says, smiling back. “Do you like it?”

Victor smile is even softer, sweeter than before when he comes to stand by Yuuri’s side and wraps his arm around him. He gives Yuuri’s cheek a little peck, before he beams.

“I love it!”

“And you, Yurio?”

“It’s better than the one before,” Yurio says, which in his words might just as well be what Victor said.

Yuuri grins. He does not care much for Christmas, and neither does Yurio nor Victor, but somehow, with these little lights hanged in a pattern of a tree, their home seems to be just a tad warmer this winter.

“Well,” Yuuri says, unable to keep back his grin, “I guess this means we’re doing presents this year as well?”

Victor gasps in delight. Yurio groans, fake annoyed. Yuuri laughs, happy and bright, because this right here – them, together and happy – is the best present he could’ve asked for, and he has been gifted it day by day,everyday, not just at Christmas. And it’s more than enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's already christmas eve over here, so happy holidays, friends! ❤️ I hope you have a safe and relaxing time today and see you tomorrow for vitya's birthday 😉


	8. birthday cooking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victor doesn't necessarily like celebrating his birthday, but when it comes to it he can definitely be bribed with delicious baked goods.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> written for mollyst4rts in 2019/12

When Victor gets home from the gym that day, right from the moment he opens the front door, he can smell the delicious aroma of cookie dough. It fills his lungs and makes him acutely aware of how hungry he is after his workout. Even more, it makes him want to cheat on his diet. During the year he spent as only Yuuri's coach, he allowed himself some leeway, but now that he was trying to get back into shape, he didn't have the freedom to eat whatever he pleased anymore.

The smell that comes from his kitchen, though… Maybe cheating just this once would be worth it, just to get it out of his mind.

He greets Makkachin by the door and drops his things without a care on the couch in the living room, quickly making it towards the kitchen. As he expected, Yuuri is puttering about the tiny space, wearing the frilly pink apron that Victor bought as a joke simply because it had a "Kiss the cook" print on the front pocket. Following the apron's advice, Victor sneaks up behind Yuuri, rests a little kiss on his bowed neck and wraps his arms around him.

Yuuri startles, but since he has his hands inside a bowl where he's kneading the dough, he only jumps and releases a sharp breath once he realizes it's only Victor.

"Vitya, oh my god!" he says. "You scared me half to death."

"I'm sorry, love," Victor apologizes, kissing Yuuri's cheek before he peers down over his shoulder. "I didn't mean to scare you. The scent brought me here and I couldn't resist. What are you baking?"

"A surprise," Yuuri answers. He dips his hands back into the dough, giving it some more firm kneading. "If you want to help, I need to have some egg whites whipped for the filling."

Victor, whose cooking skills consist only of the things required for survival of a lone male in the 21st century, knows very little of baking. Whipping egg whites, however, does not require much of him, and so he washes his hands and gets down to work beside Yuuri with true delight. It always makes him happy to be of help, and it makes him even happier when he can do so at Yuuri's side. It's the best of both worlds, he believes.

He gets the eggs and, while Yuuri brings out a cupcake form and begins to fill it, Victor whips the egg whites. With sugar and a pinch of salt, just like Yuuri wants them.

"What's next?" Victor asks, licking his sticky fingers.

Yuuri hums, smiling. "Next, you need to kiss me."

Victor can hardly skip such an important step. He leans down and captures Yuuri's lips. All the sugar and sweetness seems to have clung to Yuuri's lips, and Victor wishes he could deepen the kiss and taste Yuuri's mouth properly. But alas, Yuuri pulls back to return to the baking, his eyes gleaming brightly, and Victor can only lick his lips, chasing the aftertaste of him.

"And now I need you to take out the whiskers from the mixer and wash them," Yuuri directs him. "We're going to get the filling done while these bake."

It's Yuuri's turn to wrap his arms around Victor when he finishes putting the tray of cupcakes into the warm oven. He has dried flour and dough on his hands, so after washing the whiskers and the bowl and setting them to the side to dry, Victor takes Yuuri's hands and washes them, too. He dries them with a kitchen towel, then turns around to Yuuri, smiling, and kisses both his hands.

Yuuri's smile is as soft and sweet as his lips. Victor can't help himself from stealing another kiss, which Yuuri allows, laughing against his mouth.

"Come on," Yuuri says. "Filling first."

"Yes, being filled with love is always better than just feeling love," Victor agrees, and Yuuri gives him half a glare, half a smile for his efforts at wordplay.

Yuuri directs him along as they make the filling, and once he deems it ready, he brings a spoonful to Victor's lips to taste. He'd much rather lick it off Yuuri's, but he accepts the spoon, and then moans around it at the sublime taste. Light and fluffy, it's sweet like vanilla and cinnamon and honey.

"Good?" Yuuri asks, smiling brightly.

"The best," Victor praises.

They clean up a little while they wait for the cupcakes to bake, but the filling is so good that Victor just has to dip his finger into it from time to time and steal some: his diet can forgive him this indulgence just this once. After the fourth time, however, Yuuri begins to swat at his hand whenever it nears the filling bowl. It does not stop Victor from trying, and grinning like a loon when Yuuri catches him and gives him a kiss instead with a little "Make do with this, will you?"

The air smells sweetly of baking cupcakes and Victor could honestly get used to coming home to this every day. He knows it's impossible. Their lives between the rink, competitions and the gym and training are too full to allow this, but… one can always dream, no? One day, maybe. One day, when they both retire and the ring on Yuuri's hand will be more than just a promise to fulfill.

The timer Yuuri has set chimes. Yuuri puts on the pink gloves and brings out a tray of gorgeous cupcakes.

"They have to sit for a moment, and then we can stuff them and decorate."

"What's the occasion anyway?" Victor asks. He steps back to allow the more experienced cook to take the lead on this. "You don't usually bake when we're this deep in the season."

He means skating, of course. Yuuri rarely focuses on anything else once the winter months arrive in full. Not that Victor would complain. As his coach, it's something he often praises. As his competitor, it's something Victor often times is jealous of. As his fiancé… Victor chooses to say nothing, but act instead: he takes Yuuri out of the house on walks, shows him St. Petersburg, asks him out on silly, silly dates, because love is not always meant to remain silent and supportive, but to know when the line of healthy and obsessive needs to be stretched just a little less tautly.

"Mm," Yuuri hums, not looking at Victor. "I just felt like it today."

"Anything you want to share?" Victor asks carefully, but Yuuri shakes his head. "You know you can tell me anything, don't you, love? I'm always here for you."

Yuuri looks away from the cupcakes to blink at Victor as if he does not understand the sudden concern. Then, he smiles.

"I know, Vitya," he says softly. He leaves the baking for just a moment and comes over to give Victor a sweet kiss. "I know. And thank you. But I'm totally fine today, no need to worry."

"Are you sure?"

Victor tucks a strand of Yuuri's hair behind his ear. It has grown long again, and Victor can't help but touch it. Yuuri gives him another soft smile, so full of love that Victor does not doubt his next words.

"I'm sure. I've never been better."

With one more kiss, and another to Yuuri's forehead and nose, Victor lets the giggling Yuuri return to baking. He sits in the kitchen chair, rests his elbow on the table and his face in his hand, and, sighing, watches Yuuri clean and finish everything up.

It takes maybe another 15 minutes before Yuuri deems the cupcakes cool enough to get them out of the form. One by one, perfectly shaped, he sits them on the cutting board to be filled and dressed. Victor can't help but admire the ease with which Yuuri begins to pipe the filling into the cupcakes once he's done separating them. He's such a great cook, and Victor is so blessed to be able to taste his cooking as often as he gets it.

Victor's mouth waters as he looks at Yuuri work, and then he has to lick his lips when Yuuri brings out the whipped cream from the fridge. Yuuri puts one cupcake on a little saucer. Behind him, Victor can't see what he's doing exactly, but he hears the whipped cream can make that delicious noise and then Yuuri picks up the bowl filled with cinnamon and brown sugar mix and dusts the cream lightly.

He's smiling when he turns around. Slowly, he takes off the apron, wipes his hands and then brings the cupcake around the table to sit it right before Victor.

"Happy birthday, Vitya," he says, and leans in to kiss Victor's cheek.

And it is, Victor realizes with growing surprise. His birthday. He completely forgot about it.

"You forgot, didn't you?" Yuuri says more than asks, his expression even softer now. All Victor can do is offer him a sheepish smile. "Well, at least one of us remembers, so that's good enough. Now, dig in. You helped make it, so we cheated a little, but still. I hope you like it."

"I'm sure it's delicious," Victor tells him. And before he even looks at the cupcake, he stands up to hug Yuuri properly and give him a long, appreciative kiss. "Thank you, darling."

Yuuri blushes a little, but he nudges Victor towards the cupcake with a smile. What else can Victor do then? He takes up the tiny piece of heaven and bites into it. He moans when the sweetness and pure love begin to melt in his mouth.

"Is it good?" Yuuri asks as if he doesn't know it, and all Victor can do is moan appreciatively as he takes another bite.

He inhales the thing in four bites and spends another minute licking his fingers clean.

"The best cupcake I've ever eaten," Victor says at last, turning to Yuuri.

Yuuri's grin is wide, and then it's even wider when he tries to keep from laughing. At last, he can't, and he bursts out giggling. Victor frowns at him, but he's only half concerned – the other half of him wants to join Yuuri in happiness, because the joy in his heart beats equally as strong.

"You have–" Yuuri manages between his giggles, waving his hand about his face. Then he shakes his head, and says instead: "Come here."

He motions for Victor to lean forward and he does, readily. Smiling, Yuuri also leans towards him. One of his hands comes to rest under Victor's chin to hold his head steady, while he brings his face close and licks at Victor's nose. He pulls back, laughing again, and Victor can't help but laugh, too.

Still laughing, he pulls Yuuri towards him and steals his laughter straight from his lips.

Only once they both calm down into fond smiles, does Yuuri speak again.

"I know you said that you don't really celebrate birthdays, but I hope you did enjoy this just a little."

"If this is how we celebrate my birthdays from now on then I don't really mind if we do it every year," Victor answers easily, bringing Yuuri's hand to rest a kiss upon it. It still smells of cinnamon and cupcake dough, and Victor smiles. "I'm so lucky to have someone who'd do this for me. If you want to celebrate, I'm all for it, too."

Yuuri looks uncertain for a moment. "Are you sure? I don't want to force you or anything."

"Do I look like I'm being forced?" Victor cocks his head, still with a smile. When Yuuri shakes his head, he adds: "I could never be forced to enjoy spending time with you, or to eat your cooking, or to give you a thousand kisses, because every single one of those things I would die a thousand times over to be allowed to do. It's a reward, never an obligation."

Yuuri's lips quirk again. "Where do you get inspiration for all those speeches?"

"The heart of my heart," Victor answers, grinning. " _You_."

Yuuri's cheeks grow pink, but he only smiles when Victor kisses his hand again.

"Do you want another cupcake?" Yuuri asks, too embarrassed to continue to topic and Victor lets it go. He does not let go of Yuuri, though.

"I'd love another," he says, and before Yuuri can stand up to prepare one more, he continues: "but I'd love it a lot more if I could kiss my beautiful fiancé again. Properly."

"Oh, I don't know," Yuuri looks towards the cupcakes. "What if Makkachin gets into those and–"

Victor steals the rest of his words with a kiss, and Yuuri does not fight him when he deepens it – he only pulls him closer. As far as birthdays go, Victor can't remember one that was better, sweeter or warmer. Nor does he want to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy birthday to our lord and saviour, victor nikiforov! and once again: happy holidays, friends 😘❤️


	9. hide and seek

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Makka and Potya hide under a warm kotatsu while the others have one heck of a time searching for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> written for [JenniS](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JenniS/pseuds/JenniS) in 2020/01

"Have you found them?" Victor asks when he spots Yuuri coming down the stairs again.

Yuuri sighs. "No. It looks like Makka was napping in our bed at some point, but no sign of them now. Where's Yurio?"

"He went to check outside. Maybe they're playing in the snow?"

It's been an hour since they came back home to the inn, but they haven't been able to rest a moment, because neither Makkachin nor Potya were anywhere to be found. Even though he pretended otherwise, Yurio was too worried to relax, which in turn made Yuuri anxious and that could not stand with Victor… so they split up to search the inn for their missing furry friends.

Now, an hour later, Victor and Yuuri tug on snow shoes and put on warm coats to follow Yurio outside. He's been out there in the cold for half an hour already, thinking maybe Makka and Potya somehow slipped out to play in the snow. Before they can step a foot into the bright winter sunlight though, the doors slide open and a scowling Yurio steps into the genkan – a storm cloud of cold air.

"Anything?" Yuuri asks, pausing with his scarf half tied around his neck.

Yurio only shakes his head. He kicks the ground hard to get the snow off his sneakers and angrily shrugs off his jacket. He slings that and his scarf on the hanger, frustration in every single of his jerky movements.

Dressing forgotten, Yuuri rests a supportive hand on Yurio's shoulder.

"Don't worry, we'll find them. They aren't stupid. I'm sure they're here somewhere and we've just missed them."

"Get off," Yurio bites out. He shrugs off Yuuri's hand, but he does it with far less anger than before.

"I didn't check the kitchen yet," Victor remembers. "I didn't want to bother Mama, she's cooking. Maybe they're there? You know Potya loves how warm it gets, and Makka will never beg off some scraps."

Before he's even done speaking, Yurio makes his way to the kitchen. He sticks his head in and looks around, but at first sight he can't see either of their pets.

"Mom," Yuuri calls, pushing on Yurio's shoulders lightly so that he can step into the room as well, "have you seen Makka and Potya? We've looked all over and can't find them."

"Oh dear!" Mama Katsuki wipes her hands on her apron. She frowns, and the soup on the stove bubbles in it's huge pot as if in reply to her worry. "No, I haven't seen them since morning. I gave Potya and Makkachin their food and that was that. Didn't Mari take Makka out for a walk while you were at the Ice Castle? You better ask your sister then."

"Thanks, mom."

"Ask Mari?" Victor guesses at what Yuuri's mother said in Japanese. His grasp on the language gets better and better with each day, and pride fills Yuuri as he nods.

"She took Makka out while we were at practice."

Together, they search for Mari now, who is undeniably easier to find. She's in the laundry room when they finally stumble upon her, and she lifts a sardonic eyebrow at their little procession.

"You should keep a better eye on your pets," she tells them all, snorting, when Yurio asks if she's seen Potya. "I don't know about your cat, but I've taken Makkachin on a walk. We came back no problem and she's been napping with Dad ever since as far as I know. Potya should be somewhere nearby, no?"

Yurio huffs, exasperated by all the hunting. "She's not there. We've asked already."

"Then I don't know." Mari shrugs. "They should be around the house somewhere. Did you check your bed?"

"Twice," Yuuri answers, because he feels Yurio's temper about to boil. "And both our beds. Wherever they are, it isn't upstairs."

A slight frown tightens Mari's face. "There isn't much space for them to hide down here. Did you check in with Mom?"

"Just now. She sent us to you."

"I don't think they ran out, but even if they had, there's a fence around the inn, so they wouldn't be able to go far. If they did get out, you should've seen them outside."

"I haven't," Yurio adds in a slightly calmer voice. "They obviously must still be inside. Also, Potya hates cold. He wouldn't go out."

Mari hums, throwing another load into the washing machine.

"Look into the dining room," she says. "If there's one place they'll be that I can think of, it's there."

With a word of thanks, they leave Mari to the chores.

The inn is quiet at this time of day. It's not even afternoon yet, so most of the guests are still out, exploring the city. Through the empty halls, they make their way back past the kitchen and slip into the private dining room that Yuuri's family keeps closed just for their use. The tatami mats are worn here, but they're home.

"They're not here," Victor says.

Yuuri, however, spots something else. He grins.

"Oh, I don't know," he answers, his grin spreading as he moves around the kotatsu that stands in the centre of the room. He lifts a finger to his lips to show the other two to be quiet.

Because there, on the other side from Victor and Yurio, Yuuri sees a fluffy brown tail, swaying lightly at the sound of their voices. He sneaks towards it. Victor, who realizes what Yuuri must be seeing there, shares in his grin.

"Gosh, I wonder where our good girl Makka went," he says, rounding the kotatsu from the other side. "And here I was hoping to give her some amazing new treats."

"Treats, huh?" Yuuri echoes, and the tail wags harder.

Unable to keep his laughter in any longer, Yuuri lightly grabs at the tail. It startles Makka like he knew it would, and the tail disappears under the table. But not for long – at the same time as Yuuri snatches the tail, Victor throws open the covers from the other side, and Makka borks at him: happy and far too cute.

Next to her, curled up in the warmth and blissfully asleep, is Potya. The cat twitches at the barking, but he opens only one eye to see what's wrong and then promptly ignores them all.

Yurio pretends to hide his relief, but Yuuri sees it clear as day in his eyes. The boy turns away as if he knows Yuuri's spotted his moment of weakness, a faint flush on his cheeks. Yuuri can't help but smile.

"Isn't it good that we found them?" Yuuri asks, and Yurio only huffs. A softer huff, still.

Yuuri and Victor share a smile. Yurio pulls Potya out from under the table and takes his place. He cradles his cat in his lap and Potya, briefly unhappy about the change in position, snuggles into him once he realizes who is touching him. Victor sits on the other end, Yuuri in front of him, and Makkachin spreads between them under the table – her face in Victor's lap, her butt and softly swaying tail next to Yuuri's thigh – waiting for scratches.

It isn't long until lunch, but they decide to stay a while under the warmth of the kotatsu. After an entire morning spent at the Ice Castle and the anxiety of the search, they all feel like the kotatsu is a true blessing. Like they deserve a break.

And just like that, when lunch finally arrives on Mama Katsuki's tray, all five, human and pet, are once again lost to the bliss of a kotatsu in winter – asleep and dreaming of the sweetest things. Because there is nothing better in the world than a warm body and a warm heart, after all. Especially when you have someone to share it with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> why aren't kotatsu's popular around the world is beyond me, it's a god given gift LET US HAVE SOME WARMTH TOO  
> sincerely,  
> the always cold me
> 
> hope you enjoyed this one 😉


End file.
